All the wild things one man has put in his beard to break world records

Is there anything serial record breaker Joel Strasser can’t hold in his beard?

Well, probably lots of things, yes, but we’re yet to see it.

The US dad-of-four has claimed a string of world records with his big bushy beard.

From toothpicks to golf tees and forks to pencils, he’s literally put thousands of things in his facial hair in order to cement his status as a record-breaking legend.

And the 45-year-old assured us: “My interest in breaking records isn't slowing down any time soon!”

Joel, who works in the insurance claims industry, says he accidentally discovered his beard’s incredible storage abilities.

He said: “So much food and stuff ends up in it accidentally that I realized it was really good at holding things. It made me wonder, what if I actually tried to hold stuff on there?”

And that’s exactly what he did!

Here’s a full history of all the things Joel has put in his beard to break world records:

• 7 July 2018 - most toothpicks in a beard – 3,500

• 21 November 2019 - most chopsticks in a beard – 520
• 21 November 2019 - most golf tees in a beard – 607
• 14 March 2020 - most forks in a beard – 121 (later bettered)

• 19 June 2020 - most paper straws in a beard – 534
• 17 November 2020 - most clothes pegs (clothespins) on a beard - 359
• 31 December 2020 - most pencils in the beard – 450 (later bettered)

• 21 September 2021 - most pencils in the beard – 456
• 17 November 2021 - most pencils put into a beard in one minute - 59
• 18 June 2022 - most chopsticks put into a beard in one minute - 86
• 5 November 2022 - most forks in a beard – 126
• 2 December 2022 - most beard baubles in a beard – 710

• 18 February 2023 - most cotton buds in a beard – 2,470
• 4 October 2023 - most chopsticks put in a beard in one minute (team of two) – 104 with David Rush and Garrett Smith (both USA)
• 5 December 2023 - most pipe cleaners in a beard – 1,150

• 9 December 2023 - most candy canes in a beard – 187 (later bettered)
• 14 March 2024 - most BBQ skewers in a beard - 600
• 16 December 2024 - most candy canes in a beard – 200
• 30 August 2025 - most birthday candles in the beard – 613

Joel said: “It's an incredible feeling! It never gets old to break a Guinness World Records title. Getting that certificate that displays the record is so awesome too. I never thought I'd achieve so many incredible world records.”

Find more stories like this in our Hobbies and Skills section.

For those wondering, Joel said it was clothes pegs that were the hardest thing to work with because his beard hair kept getting caught in the springs and ripping out. Ouch!

And it’s never as easy a process as people might think it is.

Joel explained: “When I first tried to break the record for most candy canes in a beard I ran into a few problems. They are really brittle so they break quickly and then the whole thing falls apart. My workaround was to leave them in their wrappers, but the wrappers are really slick and instead of gripping, they slide all over the place.

“So once I start building up a lot of candy canes in the beard the whole thing falls out suddenly. When I broke that record with 200 in my beard, it took a long time because twice I got very close and the whole thing fell apart and I had to start all over.”

He’d had plans for another festive record this year, aiming to put the most mistletoe in his beard, but it all went wrong.

“The amount of mistletoe it takes to break the record is quite expensive,” he said.

“I bought a bunch to practise with but once I went to break the record it had all died. The leaves and berries fell off and it had started going mouldy! It was such a disappointment. But I'll regroup and plan it better so I can for sure break the most mistletoe in a beard record for Christmas 2026!”

All of Joel’s beardy escapades have inspired others too, like Anya Bannasch (USA).

She put the most golf tees in the hair (711) after seeing Joel do his thing.

“I was so pleased when she broke that record, it was really neat to see her succeed,” Joel said.

And recently, he’s been branching out to try other challenges, like the most casinos visited in 24 hours (115 with pal Garrett Smith and Casino.org) as well as the longest cornhole shot with a slingshot (46.025 m (151 ft) with pals Garrett and Luke Lorick).

It’s a lot of work, but all worth it when Joel opens the Guinness World Records book and sees himself inside.

He said: “It's the fulfilment of a childhood dream. I always checked the books out from the library as a kid and daydreamed about seeing myself in there some day. To know I've been featured in the last seven books is absolutely incredible. What an incredible privilege to be in the pages of such an iconic book next to so many legendary people!”